Review: Supergirl S04E01 – “American Alien”

The Arroverse as a whole is seeing a bit of an upheaval this season, and nowhere is this more evident than in Supergirl. The show’s third season concluded with Alex replacing Jonn as the director of the D.E.O., Winn heading off to the future to be replaced by Brainy, and James Olsen being outed as Guardian. As a result, Season 4 of the show is sure to mark a turning point as creators and fans come to terms with the new dynamics on display. That said, Supergirl has been improving as the season’s progress, and with these new changes, the production team can finally move away from the foundations of the CBS hosted first season.

WARNING: D.E.O. Sensors Detect SPOILERS AHEAD

Over the course of its previous three seasons, Supergirl hasn’t been shy about putting its message of inclusion front and centre. This year seems like it’s going to be no different, as human-alien relations feature heavily in the Season opener. The now civilian Jonn finds himself involved with an alien support group, intent on helping off-worlders integrate into society, though a spate of fresh hate crimes suggests that they’ll face an uphill battle to achieve their ends. The episode, however, begins with our titular heroine aiding grateful people across the globe, so when Jonn brings his concerns to her, she refuses to see the badness in mankind. It’s an interesting new dynamic for the pair with Jonn being led more by emotion and Kara being the more practical. After all, the first attack, led by the Graves siblings does look more like a terrorist attack than a hate crime.

Of course, we find out later in the episode that the theft of the EMP is part of a much larger conspiracy to promote the cause against alien integration. Not for the first time, Supergirl‘s showrunners are taking a not-too-subtle jibe at the policies of a certain sitting world leader. With the true nature of the Graves’ plan brought to light, Supergirl and co. turn their attention to protecting the president as she meets with alien representatives at Camp David. Things don’t run smoothly as a planned attack allows the antagonists to capture some damning video footage that’s sure to heat up the show’s political climate.

Elsewhere, the season premier endeavours to get fans used to the new character positions within the show. Again, the showrunners have chosen to be not too subtle about getting fans on board, particularly through the relationship between Alex and Brainy. With fan favourite Winn (Jeremy Jordan) now departed, there’s going to be a big hole to fill on the show. Jesse Rath’s ironically clueless Brainy is charged to address this, and we’re explicitly asked to give things time to settle down. Toward the end of the episode, when Brainy attempts to be more like Winn in order to appease Alex, the pair have a heart to heart regarding changes and how we’ll have to come to accept them. Of course, the message is as much for our benefit as it is for the characters themselves, as Supergirl embarks on a new exciting chapter for the show.

With all this change going on, the show does treat us to some familiar elements, however. In spite of her usual protestations to the contrary, Lena remains willing to blur the lines of what is right to achieve her goals. In this case, it’s keeping James out of prison by manipulating her mother, so we reckon we’ll let her off the hook this time. That said, it looks like we’re going to have another season of Lena and James’ relationship being put under the stress of deception so there is that catch twenty-two around wanting something familiar but also not wanting to tread the same ground that we have been. That might be the biggest challenge for Supergirl this season. Even though we’ve been asked to give the show some time to integrate the many changes it has, there’s still the need to give the fans something familiar to keep them involved; perhaps that’s the reason why a number of past background characters return this season.

The introduction of Nia Nal (Nicole Maines) too does go some way to blending the unfamiliar with the familiar, and once again we’re not allowed to miss it. Nia appears fairly early on in the episode as a plucky new writer, eager to impress her new boss. During their first meeting, Kara remarks that Nia reminds her so much of herself when she first started at KatCo. Similarly, as the episode draws to a close, James points out that Kara is treating Nia in much the same fashion as Kat Grant treated her, so we’re treading familiar ground here. The introduction of the new threat, Agent Liberty (Sam Witwer) too doesn’t really strike us as broaching something new; If anything he comes across like Guardian with the ideals of Lillian Luthor.

In truth, “American Alien” does just what it needs to do as a season premiere. It’s not going to be regarded as one of the best Supergirl episodes ever, but it does the job of introducing the new season well. We can’t ignore the fact that the show is going through a major shake-up for Season Four, but this never comes across as a huge problem in this episode. We can’t help but feel that some of the attempts to retain the familiar miss the mark slightly, but these issues should iron themselves out as the season progresses and we become used to the new dynamics.